Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Bearded Dragons — 7 Cool Facts About Pet Reptiles

7 Cool Facts about Bearded Dragons | Pet Reptiles

When
we think of the continent of Australia, we think of unusual animals
right away, from kangaroos to platypuses to wallabies. They're all over
there in Australia, it seems. But there are some that are not that
unusual, just fantastic creatures. And one of them is the Pogona
Vitticeps, the Bearded Dragon. There's a number of different species in
Australia, but the popular one is the dragon you see in front of you
here, that has dominated the pet world now for the last 20 to 25 years.

In
their native Australia, they're inquisitive creatures that easily
inhabit areas where people are. They like to climb fence posts and look
out to see what's going on. Males will dominate a territory and have
multiple females as mates. And they're prolific breeders. They have up
to 20 eggs at a time and they dominate the landscape they come from.

They're
quick when they have to be to escape predators. They're extremely fast
runners. For the most part, they're kind of sit there and look out and
see what's going on animals in the wild. They're very fun and animated
to watch.

They'll eat a variety of things from insects to greens
to small pieces of meat, such as rodents. Bearded Dragons are largely
protected now in their native Australia. They're no longer exported,
which is very good. Thank you, Australia, for allowing us to have some
of them. But because of their prolific nature, they are no longer hunted
there and they're free to multiply and grow in Australia without any
danger of being threatened by the pet trade or by confiscation.

The
Bearded Dragon gets his name, as you can see, the big male here is
going to get a little territorial. First he gets up on his front limbs.
And if he gets really agitated with the smaller one in front of him,
he'll do two things. First, he'll start bobbing his head up and down to
say, "I'm the biggest dragon in this area, so back off." And if that
doesn't work, he actually throws out his throat. It turns black and he
puffs it out. It looks like a big black beard. And that's where the
animal gets his name.

The Bearded Dragon will do that every time
an animal is reintroduced into its area. If he wants to threaten it, he
will throw that beard out. Sometimes in captivity they don't bother
doing it anymore because they're so docile by nature and he knows this
other dragon, so he's not really doing it at this moment.

But
two males together, one will dominate the other. He'll say, "I'm the
biggest dragon here." If the other one is of equal size and equal
temperament, they will fight. If not, the smaller one actually submits.
And what they do is take their arm and they move it ever so slowly in a
counter clockwise direction and the larger dragon will understand that
that's like a person saying, "Don't hit me." He puts his hands up and
says, "I don't want to fight."

So, they work things out together
in nature. In nature, of course, they can disappear and run in
different areas. In a captive environment, they have to have that
submissive language going back and forth between them in order to avoid
fights in captivity. The Bearded Dragon, an Australian treasure for
sure.